Some Republicans are questioning their confidence in Pete Hegsef.

That's where we're starting the seven from the Washington Post.

I'm Hannah Jewell. It's Thursday, December 4th.

Let's get you caught up with today's seven stories.

The Defense Secretary is under increasing scrutiny.

Last week, the post reported that Hegseth gave a spoken order in September to kill the entire

crew of a vessel in the Caribbean.

Since then, various members of the Trump administration have offered different explanations

of that strike on alleged drug smugglers. And in the past week, the House and Senate Armed

Services committees have opened separate inquiries to determine whether Hegseth or another

senior military official may be culpable for orders they gave in the attack.

Adding to Hegg Seth's troubles,

yesterday a watchdog found he endangered U.S. troops

with his use of the unclassified messaging app signal to share highly sensitive attack plans.

Several members of Congress and aides told the post that Republican support for the

secretary and other top Pentagon officials is weakening. President Donald Trump unexpectedly pardoned

Democratic Representative Henry Quayar of Texas. That's number two. Quayar is one of the most

conservative Democrats in the House. Last year, he was charged with bribery, money laundering,

and conspiracy. He and his wife Imelda were accused of taking part in a bold corruption scheme.

Quayar allegedly promised to wield his power as a U.S. congressman to advocate for his benefactors.

Yesterday, Trump pardoned them both.

He said the investigation was un-American and accused Democrats of trying to, quote,

...